Mao’s “Inept” Statements On Constitutional, Electoral Reforms Expunged From Parliament Record

The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Nobert Mao’s inept statements on the floor have been expunged from the official record of Parliament, the Hansard.

This comes after the Minister chose to absentee himself from the House’s plenary session of 11^th February 2025, where he had been directed to provide satisfactory responses to queries raised by the former Leader of the Opposition (LOP) Mathias Mpuuga in line with preparations for the 2026 general elections.

According to the Democratic Alliance (DA) coordinator Mpuuga, the Minister made “inept statements” last week, which were deemed unfit for the parliamentary record.

He stated, “last week, the minister of justice was here. He made some inept statements on the floor of parliament, which actually should be expunged from the record of parliament.”

The Minister was ordered to return to parliament and provide clarification on the government’s preparations for the elections. However, he failed to appear, prompting Mpuuga to question the Attorney General’s availability to respond to the issues.

Mpuuga asked, “Rt. Hon Speaker, now that the Attorney General is around, and he works closely with the minister of justice, will he explain whether he is available to parliament to respond to those issues?”

He also inquired about the possibility of the Prime Minister responding on behalf of the Minister.

In response, Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi pledged to provide satisfactory responses to the queries by the following week.

However, Mpuuga insisted that the Speaker’s instruction was for the Minister to appear and respond to the issues, not for the Attorney General to respond by a later date.

The development comes on the heels of last week’s events, where Minister of Justice Norbert Mao appeared before parliament and stated that the government was working on electoral and constitutional reforms without satisfactorily giving details.

However, his response was deemed vague, and he contradicted a statement made by Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka who had informed the Parliament that he had no instructions from the justice and constitutional affairs minister to draft constitutional and electoral reforms.

Last week, Mpuuga expressed concern that Mao’s office had been broken into, and his documents on electoral and constitutional reforms had been stolen.

He asked, “May we know if he is working on something fresh or if he needs help to go back to his text that offered this country some glimmer of hope that we would transition?”

The expunging of Mao’s statements from the parliamentary record highlights the growing tensions between the government and the opposition where some members led by Mpuuga are pushing for Constitutional, and electoral reforms as the country prepares for the 2026 polls.

As such, Mpuuga and alike MPs are increasingly scrutinizing the government’s actions and statements regarding the required reforms.

In the meantime, the parliamentary record will no longer reflect the Justice Minister’s “inept statements,” which gives MPs in the opposition push a fresh mandate to press more for answers and greater transparency from the government regarding the electoral reforms.

The clock is ticking, and the 2026 elections are just around the corner. The government must prioritize transparency, accountability, and democracy, or risk facing the consequences.